Addison budget shows good fund balance

The Addison Community Schools Board of Education heard good news on the district’s financial front with both the 2012-13 end-year budget and the 2013-14 fiscal numbers.

The school district ended the 2012-13 fiscal year with a $28,666 surplus. It was estimated in April the district would end the year with a $231,907 shortage.

Chief financial officer Wendy Rokita said fiscal belt-tightening and selling the former Upper Elementary property and no longer having to pay the utility bills for the building helped reduce the projected deficit.

The district will enter the 2013-14 school year with a projected $96,000 deficit, down from earlier in the year, when funding shortages were estimated to continue a six-figure trend. The estimated fund balance for June 30 is $1.2 million, while the project fund equity for June 30, 2014, is $1.1 million, or 14.37 percent of the district’s total budget.

The ending 2012-13 budget revenue was $7.6 million, with the proposed 2013-14 total revenue set at $7.9 million.

Rokita and Superintendent Steve Guerra praised those involved in developing the budget and working to reduce the projected deficit, calling the shortfall “manageable.”

“Two years ago we looked in our crystal ball and hoped in four years we’d still have a fund balance,” Guerra said. “Two years later, we have a healthy fund balance, thanks to everyone being creative with funding and not sacrificing our programs.

“In fact, we’re hiring teachers,” Guerra said.

Reduced state funding, decreased enrollment and increased expenses had school officials estimating the district’s fund balance would have been eliminated by 2014-15.

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